Shibley Telhami

Extraordinary uprisings are sweeping the Arab world on a scale the region has never witnessed before. Why were analysts and governments surprised? What explains the timing and the scale of these revolts? Who is behind them and for what aims? How are they likely to unfold from country to country? What are the consequences for the United States? Middle East expert speaker Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor at the University of Maryland and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, has been conducting the annual Arab Public Opinion Survey for over a decade which has focused not only on Arab attitudes towards their governments and toward the United States, but also has been documenting the impact of the media on Arab public attitudes. He visited both Tunisia and Egypt immediately after the revolution and conducted several interviews with some of the young people that started it all. He offers his informed perspective.